Game apparatus



March 19, 1935. J N N 1,994,977

GAME APPARATUS Filed May 25, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR W .9 MW

FF JRMPAMPWL m :5 m Wm QMW n ATI'O NE March 19, 1935.

J. P. BENSON GAME APPARATUS Filed May 25, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTYOR M .7 $944010 Afro I Patented Mar. 19,1935 '7 1 V UNITED S'l'ASAENT OFFICE r A v 1,994,977 I I I GAME APPARATUS Joseph P. Benson,Brooklyn, N. Y. Application May 25, 1933, Serial No. 672,777

11 Ciaims. (Cl.'27 3l44)' I My present invention relates to a, gameapleft without a bottom wall and is provided with paratus' and'to theplaying elements used therea front wall 14 which may be eithertransparent with and aims to provide certain improvements or opaque asdesired depending upon the charthereing' j V acter of the game which isto beplayed orthe An object of my invention is to provide a chance useto which the apparatus is .to be put. 1 Pivotally 5 and game apparatusadapted for use in playing mounted within the chamber a d. p e b at amultiplicity of games with either a, given set the rear wall thereof isa pair or -transfermom-- of playing elements or with different sets or"playbels 17 W c a pivoted t d transfer 7 ing elements which may besubstituted one for membersbeing sli y Spaced pa t the other at the willof the players- Another obja ht ed s 0 s fl h partition W 10 ject is toprovide an apparatus of the character when used, and having their topfaces sloping described wherein the playing elements used downwardlytoward each other as indicated at 17b. therewith are adapted to beactivated by gravity r i sur t e v t Of e p y and'whichmay be renderedcontrollable by the ents in t e pp 14 t0 the i r ci i player orleftentirely to' chance. Another ob- S0 a b b eh a by th tr r members '7 l5ject is to provide playing elements madeup in the h pp r is m d Wi h aninw ly l p n sets or groups of difierent colors in any desired alse botom 14!;- r g g V r proportion or sets of elements provided with nota-Directly beneath the hopper 14 there is a slide tionsyindicia or legendsthereon corresponding block-'18 which is movable betweenia p toplayers,- parts or terms used in any game or u d s the front d ofsaid'sli'de block being 20' sport;-Preferably these elements will be ofpr vid d with cir ul r op nins l'ii n h re r spherical form. r of saidslide block having an opening or groove 18c The'foregoing and variousother objects of my and a pa 0 p y extending p 13d which invention aswell as the construction and operaproject throu h s s n e bottom f t e 5tion thereof will be better understood from the h ppe Said P nsBngag'ihg the under side of the detailed descriptionwhich follows whenconsidansfermemb s 7 d b ap e to v ered in conjunction with theaccompanying draws said members 17 up y about the p vots 17a' ings whichillustrate a preferred embodiment of as the slide block 18 moves o wa dydmy invention and wherein: ing the slide block in its rearmost positionthere Figure 1 is a front elevation of a ame ap is provided a pair ofcoil springs 18c which arepod ratus embodying my invention. V sitionedin recesses formed within the slide block,

Fig. 2 is a section taken substantially along the said springs bearingat one end against fixed abut- 1 planes of the broken line 2-2 ofFig. 1. ments 19 carried by a partition wall 20. The;

Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 6 are sections taken substanopenings 18b in the slideblock are normally dis- 5 tially'alongthe planes of the lines 33, 4- 4,posed directly beneath the open bottom of the 55 and 66 respectively ofFig. 2. secondary chamber 14a. The partition wall 20 at Figs. 7 and 8are elevations of groups of difits forward end is formedwith spacedcircularferent playing elements adapted for use with my openings 20a andat its rear'end with a slot which game apparatus. underlies the groove18c and through which pro Referring to the drawings wherein the samejects a finger 21 which is fixedly mountedon a 0 reference charactersare employed to designate shaft 22- I At h a y p points along similarparts inthe various figures, the numeral 10 saidshaft there'are provideddownwardly protectindicates the base of my game apparatus which ingfingers 22a, 22b, 22c and 22d, the functions has side walls 11 and 1111,front walls 12 and 12a for which will presently appear. If. desiredtheand a rear wall 13. Supported by said walls at front and top wall of thechamber within which 4 5" the top thereof is a hopper or chamber 14which the slide block moves may be provided with transmay be of anydesired form and construction and parent windows 2011 and 200 so thatthe playing as herein shown is provided with inwardly taperelements maybe seen when moved forward by the ing sides 15 near its bottom and acentral partislide block. 1

tion member 1-6 which may be removably held Below the partition wall20"is a playing ele- 50" within said hopper in any preferred manner.ment receivingrchamber 23, the bottom of which Within said hopper 14 isa'secondar-y chamber 14; is provided with a plurality of trap doors2311,23!) formedb'y an inwardly sloping top wall 14b, a and23c, each inturn provided with a central rear wall 140 having an opening 14d thereinand upstanding partition wall '24, said trapdoors being side walls 146.Said chamber 14a is preferably fixedly mounted upon shafts 25a, 25b and25c;re '55" spectively to open upwardly, which shafts in turn arerotatable through the medium of links 26a, 26b and 260 respectively, andwhich links in turn have pins which engage in elongated slots inoperating arms 27a, 27b and 270 respectively. The operating arms extendthrough; guide openings in the upper front wall 12a and terminate attheir outer ends in enlargements or buttons, 28. At their inner ends theoperating arms 27a, 27b and 270 engagein guides 28a carried by the wall13 and abut against the inturned ends of the fingers 22a, 22b and 220respectively, as best shown in Fig. 1. For engaging the downwardlyextending finger 22d an operating arm 29* is provided. The receivingchamber 23 rearwardly of the trap door 23a is formed with a centralpartition 24a and is bottomless for a purpose which will presentlyappear. 7

Disposed beneath each of the trap doors 23a; 23b and 230 as well asbeneath the bottomless portion of the receiving chamber are a pluralityof pairs of conduits a, 30b, 30c and 30d respectiveiv, the top openingsof which underlie and are in alignment with the openings in the bottomof the ceptacle 33 which is disposed in inclined relation to the base ofthe device so that the playing elemerits when received in said chutes 32will move by gravity down said chutes until they reach the lower endsthereof or are sooner stopped by a playing element already in saidchute. The receptacle may be provided with a transparent cover 33a so asto render visible the playing elements received in the Various chutes.The chutes may be suitably designated by letters to difierentiate themfrom each other and the rails of said chutes may also be provided withnumbers to indicate the quantity of elements in a chute. The lower endofthe duplex conduit 30c is not formed with any ofiset portion but onthe contrary directly overlies a pair of chutes 32a as best shown springdetent devices 33d. The slide door 330 extendsilaterally beyond thesides of the receptacle 7 provided withdeflectors 34 and 34grespectively 33 and is thus provided with a pair of manipulatingmembers33c. i

For receiving the playing elements upon being discharged from the lowerends of the chutes 32 and 32a when the slide door 33c is openedthere.

is provided a downwardly sloping cabinet 34 provided with two superposedchambers 34a and 34b divided by a partition wall 340, said cabinetbeing' so constructed that the upperchamber 34a connects with one ofeach of the pairs of chutes 32 and 32a and the lower chamber 342)connects with thepther of each pair of said chutes when the slide dooris open. The chambers 34a and 34b are for directing the playing elementsto openings 34d and 34c provided by said deflectors on alternate sidesof the center line of said chambers.

Disposed rearwardly of the chambers within the cabinet 34 for receivingthe playing elements discharged therefrom is a longitudinallypartitioned tray 35 which is laterally removable from the cabinet, saidtray having end walls 35a formed with openings 35b and 350 which alignwith the discharged openings 34d and 34a respectively. Adjacent saidwalls 35a and inwardly thereof the tray is formed with doors 35d and 35ewhich are laterally slidable into and out of the tray, said doors havingopenings which are adapted to align with the opening 35c when the doorsare in open position. In said position the doors also establishcommunication between the cabinet 34 and. the tray 35 through theopenings 35b in the end walls of the tray. If the tray 35 is to be usedto transfer the playing elements to the hopper the slide door 35d isopened and the door 35c is closed while receiving said playing elementsand the door 35d is closed prior to the tray being removed from thecabinet.

, In lieu of manually returning the playing elements to the hopper 14through the medium of the tray 35 I may provide the apparatus with aconveyor means and thereby preclude the handling of the playing elementsby the players and thus insure the initial or proper proportion ofplaying elements for use in the respective parts of the hopper. Toaccomplish this both slide doors 35d and 356 are opened and the portionof the cabinet 34 rearwardly of the tray 35 is provided with a middlepartition 34h which extends to the rear wall of the apparatus whereat ina vertical rectangular chamber formed by the rear Wall 13 and thechamber walls 37, 38 and 39 I affix around a vertical rotatable shaft 40a helix 41 and at the top of the vertical chamber I provide the shaft i0with means 42 for accommodating an operating handle. At the bottom ofthe rear wall 13 of the conveyor chamber I provide a pair of spacedopenings 13a through which the playing elements from the partitionedchamber 34 will pass into the conveyor chamber. I preferably sodimension the vertical conveyor chamber that the playing elements thusreceived will be confine-d tothe corners of the chamber at the rear wallof the apparatus as best shown in Fig. 3 and as the helix is rotatedsaid playing elements will be raised to the top of the conveyor cabinetwhere at said rear wall 13 is formed with openings 13b through which theplaying elements will be v discharged into the hopper 14 on oppositesides of the partition therein. a I

'In the use of my apparatus, playing elemen of any form which willfreely slide or roll down an inclined plane may be employed. I prefer,however, to use rounded or-spherical bodies and as shown in Fig. 3 itwill be apparent that the slide block 18 is designed for such bodies.These spherical elements may be of different colors and/or may have anydesired legends or nota tions thereon and can be used in sets or groupswherein the colored spheres or those having legends thereon may be invarying proportions de-' pending upon the game or use to which theapparatus is to be put. For example, each of the hopper chambers maycontain groups of equal numbers of black and white elements, or equal.numbers of three or four differently colored elements, or groupscontaining any arbitrary grouping of colored elements, or grouping ofelements with legends or indicia thereon. It will thus be apparent thatin :lieuof or in addition to colorthe one sphere so as to be visibleirrespective to playing elements which carry or are provided withindicia or legendscorresponding to the values of the playingcards in adeckand although I have shown but. six such elements it will be apparentthat the. number thereof used in the.

apparatus will correspond in number and legends thereon to the number ofcards in a deck. With such playing elements too, the-particular legendwill appear many times on a single sphere.

From the foregoing detailed description it will be apparent that withthe game apparatus described andthe character ofplaying elements to beused therewith, various games can beplayed; for example when usingcolored spheres a .game may involve a race of filling different chutes32 and 321; with different colored spheres delivered fromonly onesection of the hopper; or where black and white spheres are used variouscombinations such as. white and white, white and black, black and black,etc., can be made. the basis of a race, since two playing elements canbe simultaneously discharged to a pair of chutes to which said playingelements can be directed and controlled at the whim ofthe operatorwhocan see the combination of spheres when they are disposed in the:openings 18b, .of the slide block. The possibility of the innumerablegames which can be played with elements such as illustrated in Figs. 7and 8 accordingly become at once apor in conjunction with some othergame where manipulation of a pair of dice in the hands of a player maybe considered objectionable. It will also be appreciated that byemploying indicia corresponding to the players and terms used inbaseball or in golf or any other sport these games can likewise beplayed with the apparatus.

The operation of the apparatus independently of any game which is to beplayed thereon is substantially as follows: The hopper 14 on oppositesides of the partition wall '16 or with said partition wall removed isfirst supplied with the requisite number or sets or groups of playingelements. If the playing elements fill the hopper to a point above theopenings 14d in the secondary chamber 140., elements will find their wayinto each of the openings 18!). If the elements do not extend up to theopenings 14d, the elements will be delivered to said openings by thetransfer members 17 when the buttons 28 are pressed inwardly aspreviously explained. The elements in the openings 18b may be seenthrough the transparent walls 14 or 20b and 200, whereupon the playermay direct or selectively control the passage of said two playingelements to any of the pairs of chutes 32 and 32a by pressing upon theproper button 28. As any of the buttons 28 which control the operatingarms 27a. 27b and 2711 are pressed inwardly the corresponding finger22a, 22b and 2211 will be moved rearwardly and turn shaft 22 with whichwill move arm 21 to engage the slide block 18 and move it forwardlyagainst the tension of the springs 186 to dispose the playing elementsover the openings 20a through which they will drop into the receivingchamber 23. But simultaneously with such action the corresponding trapdoor controlled by the'operating arm' will be raised to permittheplaying elements to pass through the pair of conduits into apredetermined pair of chutes- Of course when the button, 28. upon theoperating arm 29 is moved inwardly no trap door is "operated but on thecontrary the playing :ele'ments received within the chamber 23wwill'passthrough thefopening in the bottom of. said chamber 'atith'e rear thereofdown through the: pair of conduits connecting. therewith.-. 'It will beunderstood,

that in .any selective control employed, the left and-right elements inopenings 18b will always pass down into the left and right chutes respectively of any pair of chutes. After the desired game has beencompleted, bymoving the slide door 330 outwardly the playing elementsfrom the chutes 32 and 32a will pass into the asserting chambers. 34aand 34b and from there either into'the receiving tray.35 orthroughsaidtray into the rear of the cabinet 34 leading to the spiral conveyor iftheslide door 35c isopen. From the tray 35 or cabinet 34 theplayingelements are returned to the original hopper chamber from which. theywere discharged as hereinbefore described. 1

While I have shownand described a preferred embodiment of my invention,the manner which it isfconstructed' and operable and the playing meanswith which it is to be used I do not wish toqbe limited to the detailsof construction" disclosed or to the character of the playingelementsillustrated since it will be understood that said parts may bevaried without departing from the spirit of my invention. What I claimis:

1. Azgam'e apparatus comprising a hopper for holding playing elements, aplurality of chutes below the hopper for receiving the playing elementsand means interposed between the hopper and the chutes for controllingthe simultaneous passage of a plurality of playing elements from thehopper into a corresponding number of predetermined chutes.

2. A game apparatus comprising a chamber for playing elements, means forpositioning a playing element in a predetermined position within saidchamber for release therefrom, a receiving chamber into which theplaying element will fall upon being released from the first chamber, areceptacle provided with a plurality of passages leading from the.receiving chamber and means for selectively controlling the movement ofthe playing element from the receiving chamber to a desired passage.

3. A game apparatus comprising a chamber for playing elements, means forpositioning a playing element in a predetermined position within saidchamber for release therefrom, a receiving chamber into which theplaying element will fall upon being released from the first chamber, areceptacle provided with a plurality of passages leading from thereceiving chamber and means for releasing a playing element to cause itto pass into the receiving chamber and for causing said playing elementto pass from the receiving chamber'to a desired passage.

4. A game apparatus comprising a chamber for playing elements, means forpositioning a playing element in a predetermined position within saidchamber for release therefrom, a receiving chamber into which theplaying element willfall upon being, released from the first chamber, areceptacle below the receiving chamber provided with a plurality ofpassages, trap doors in the 'receiving chamber overlying the tops of thepasrespective chambers.

sages and means for causin'g'a playing element to enter the. receivingchamber and for selectively opening a trap door in said chamber forpermitting the playing element to enter. a predetermined passage. 1

. 15. Agame apparatus comprising a plurality of chambers, groups ofplaying elements in said chambers, sets of chutes below said chambers,

means: for, simultaneously releasing an element from'each chamber to apredetermined set of chutes, means for discharging the elements from thechutes and means for automatically separating the discharged elementsin'accordance with their original groupings.

i 6. A'game apparatus comprising a plurality of chambers, groups ofplaying elements in said chambers, sets of chutes belowsaid chambers,means for simultaneously releasing an element from ,each chamber toabpredetermined set of chutes, means for discharging the elements fromthe chutes, means for automatically separating the discharged elementsin. accordance with their original groupings and mechanical means forreturning the separated groups of elements to their 8. A game apparatuscomprising a pair of said chambers, a plurality of pairs of chutes forreceiving the playing elements from said chambers, means forsimultaneously releasing a playing element from each chamber, means forselectively predetermining the pair of chutes for receiving the releasedplaying elements, means for discharging the playing elements from thechutes and means for separating the playing elements upon beingdischarged according to their original groupings and means for returningthem to their respective chambers.

9. A game apparatus according to claim 8 wherein the means forreturningthe separated playing elements to their respective chambers is amechanically operable conveyor with means for maintaining the :playing'elements in their separated group relationship while they are beingconveyed to their respective chambers.

10.'AIgame apparatus according to claim 8 wherein the means forreturning the separated playing elements to their respective chambers isa helical conveyor provided with means ior confining the movements' ofthe elements longitudicharge receptacle to the respective chambers ofthe'feed hopper from whence they first came.

JOSEPH P. BENSON;

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